Improvement in exercising-machines



Patented July 10,1877.

NPETEHS, PHOTO-LETHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C

' lifft t" there'sis't (UNITED PA E 1 EFIQE IYESHW, ea l ner, or 0 H 0 eo, ILLINOIS.

MrRov itn zNT INJEXERCISING-MACHINES.

1 Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 192,836, dated July 10, 1877; application filed May 1,1877.

1h altwhom it may concern: H platform Gin front of the main fulcrum, so

Bef't j known that I, has W, MGGAFFEY of Ohicago, in countj ofOook and State of 1l linois,; have invented certain Improvemerit? in Health-Lift 'Apparatus,of which the following is a specification ,In the accompanying drawings, which form apart of speificationjFignre1 is a vcrtitca'l'fsection of [theapparatus on the line was plan. Fig.2 is a similar section on the 3/3 ofthe plan. A Fig. 3"is the plan view. 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9 are views of the-lifting-handial mechanism FigJIlis' a side view of the ch irse'at removed. i Fig. 12 is a diagram or displa'ed analysisof the lever mechanism."

1 elettersofreferencemadeuse of inthe severallfigures deI i otelike parts;

Iitthe said "difawings, A is'the frame-work f, narin-chain'whichin practice may {hej'suitably upholstered aiid ciishioned,' 1 B is the removahly-hin ged seat frame, provided "at the si es with shortlugs"Ij,whiclienterthe L- stapedjslet b} in each side of the'chair-hot' toiii. Thefrontend'of the seat-frame is supp orted upon the cleatsb By this arrangement, it [will ,be seen that provision is made for turning up the seat; of the chair readily,

evenfwheiiathick cushion isbuil-t upon the reefe -a a dith vy pho s pp tothe enansmm 116631 186 the seatfram'e ma e punea 'tothefron'ti ar enough in the slot, biere beingraised, wall w room for the cushions in'jtiirningup. "It'willj'beunderstood, of cours, thatjjth slot, when the" seat isthus brj "hti'to'thj front',will permit of the entire removal of't'li'e'seat hodil'yfrom the j'chair fif desired. Below the seat of the chair,and between 1 thei r nc Resis pl fo an h h it isiiiitendedthat the personiusin the healthlift shall stahd while lifting j' The handles 1) D,"which' "will he" more particularly here- 1 inafterfdscribed,frise"from. each sideofithis platform, and the l evers'fojr transmitting the k ,7 ance" and registering device are oea'tedfhelow said platform. A small it plat e sen the p as a W occupies the spaee between" the places "of the Iifters feet the platform 0. '1 This man .irietfsun wr ie l bathe lb fb lw 111g; 10 is an, 'enlargedfsectionof the that the lifting apparatus may serve as a weighingscale, the small'platforni serving as the scale-platform.

The resistnce against which the lift is made consistsof afpair of coiled or spiral springs, FF, suspended from the-chairdiack, and conneeted to the long arm of a lever, G, which has a main fulcrum, at'g, supported' by being hungfrom the platform O, and the short arm of saidleveris counectedto-the lifting-handles. "There are, of \course; two lifting-handles, andin 'ordertoco'nnect both to the lever th'elatter is made forked, as shown in dotted lines at Fig; 3 of thedrawing, andthe fulcrum fgis'doubled. I 1 1 Between the fulcrum g and the resistingsprings is swung, upon the lever, the 'weighing platform E, above adverted to. In order to" producea knife-edge hearing at the fulcruiny for both the'lifting andw'eighing' movement, I make the said, fulcrum consist ofa double knife-edge projection from the lever that is to say, With'an edge aboveandan ,edge below. "'lhissets loosely in a metal ring secured to the platform. When thelever is lifted upon from the lifting-h'andles' the upper 'knife 'ed'geibrms the bearing,- and w hen the leveris' usedin weighing, theWei-ght on the platform E bringsthe bearing upon the lower knife-edge; r

The registration or indication of the lift or theweight is accomplished by an arc or dial, H, in'the wood-workof the upper part'ofthe lchair-backf This are is marked off into spaces to denote the amount weighed or" lifted,and

as the action'of the leveris not-the" same-in the one case] asintthe other, two sets of figures are neoessaryfohe set to denote; the

pounds lifted and one set to denote thepounds weighed, although by proper adj ustment' of ratios one set of 'space' markswill serve for both sets of figures." A pointer, J,isrpivoted in the interiorof the chair-back, and isfprovided ?With a crank, j," whichconnects to the pitm'an ior connecting-bar jkwhich in turnconnects with the end of the lever GfA se'cond'for dumb pointer, J applied to thesaine pivot as the first-named pointer, Ser'vestodenote the farthest point reached inithe manner of suchpointers generally; lnorder towclose the dial from view an arc-shaped panel, J, with an extension, j is'pivoted to the same center as the pointers, and swings over the dial to close it, or down into the interior of the chair-back out of sight to open the dial to view.

In order that the weighing-platform may move up and down vertically, I apply to it a parallel-motion device, consisting of the ordinary bars 41 z, pivoted to the bars t" i, one setstanding upright, and connected, respectively, to both the platforms, and the other set lying in nearly a horizontal direction, and pivotet to the first-named sets at each end.

The handles for lifting are connected to the knife-edge pivots at the short-arm ends of the lever G by loops L, into which screws Z set from the lower leaves of the intermediate springs.

As the handles at each side and all of the connections are duplicates, I will proceed to use the singular number in the further descripat m, and connected by a bolt to the lower one. A spiral spring, m, on this bolt at the rear is for the purpose of giving an increase of elasticity; but said spring may be omitted, if desired. The lower leaf M, as above stated, is connected by screw l to the loop L, which encircles the knife-edge pivot of the short arm of the lever G. The upper leaf is secured to the piece N, to which is hinged, 'at e, the twisted bar N, to which is attached the handle. This bar N is pierced with a number of holes, at, which are beveled away at their lower edges on one side of the bar. The strap P, which incloses the hand-grasp, extends down each edge of the bar, and below is united by a band,p. A pawl, P, held in by a spring, 10 sets into the holes n, or one of them, and secures the grasp or handle from sliding up ward along the bar; but, owing to the beveled edges of the holes, this pawl will permit the handle or grasp to be pushed down from hole to hole, as a ratchet would operate, and the grasp may be raised from hole to hole by detachin g the pawl with a pressure on the spring from the lip 10 This permits a ready and easy adjustment of the handles to any height required to suit different persons.

The handle, we will suppose, is drawn up to its highest position, and it is then unknown what height will be desired. Now, if the person intending to lift will mount the platform and take hold of the handles, he can adjust them instantly to suit himself by simply pushing them down to the proper place, at-which they will lock themselves.

If this self-fastening adjustment is not desired, as may be the case sometimes, where only one person uses the lift and does not wish it to be changed, it is only necessary to turn the pierced bar N around so that the bevel of the holes will be on the opposite side from the pawl-plug, and said pawl-plug will become simply a spring-plug, which cannot any longer act as a ratchet, but must be lifted out of the hole every time a change ismade.

The whole handle swivels on the connection between the piece N and the upper leaf of the spring M M, and in order that the handles may turn down under the chair-seat out of sight, it is only necessary to raise the collar Q above the hinge 6, when it may be folded, as shown at Fig. 9. When the handle is raised for use, this collar slides down of its own weight and locks the handle in an upright position.

The purpose of the intermediate spring M M is to permit the apparatus to be'adjusted so that either an exceedingly gradual yielding or elastic lift may be had, or a dead-weight of any amount, or any gradation between the two, produced.

The outer end of the upper leaf has below it a stop, at. A slide or cramp, R, with a compression screw, '1", surrounds the two leaves M M, and may be pushed forward or back along their length. Now, when this is pushed up to the front, and the compressionscrew brought down, the tendency will be both to diminish the elasticity of the spring and, if carried beyond a certain point, to raise the lifting-lever and record a certain weight on the dial, so that in lifting, when so adjusted, this weight upon the dial must be overcome as a dead-weight before the pointer will move. The amount of this dead-weight may be still further increased by the screw 1. I

By the screw 1 also a certain dead-weight may be set on the dial, and at the same time a certain degree of elasticity given to the lift by simply setting back the cramp. In short, by these several adjustments, it will be possible to procure any kind of a lift desired.

All of the mechanism is concealed, in practice, by the upholstery of the chair, 'so that when the panel at the dial is closed, the'liftinghandles turned down, and the seat lowered to place, the apparatusis an arm-chair, and presents the appearance of an ordinary piece of furniture, and may be used as such.

Having thus fully described the construction and operation of my improved apparatus, I claim 1. The combination, with a chair capable of being used as a piece of furniture, of a health lift or scale, or both, the weighing or lifting apparatus being placed in or below the seat, and the indicator or dial being placed in the chair-back, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the lever of a health-lift, of a small platform mounted upon the lever on that side of the fulcrum opposite to the side at which the handles are attached, whereby the single lever is made to serve both as the lift-lever and as a scale-lever, substan-' tially as specified.

3. The arrangement of the weighing-platform upon the platform of a health-lift, said weighing-platform being, placed so that it will come between the feet of the person lifting, substantially as specified.

4. The intermediate spring, consisting of two long leaves, to the ends of which the lifting-handle is attached, said spring being furnished with a sliding clamp for shortening or lengthening the elastic vibration, and being provided with compression and adjusting screws at the clamp, and at the connection with the handle, substantially as specified.

5. The construction of the lifting-handle, with a joint connection to a swivel-piece, and a sliding collar to cover the joint, so that the handle may be turned or folded, substantially as specified.

6. The combination of the handle or handgrasp and the spring-plug with the lifting-bar, having a series of perforations, the lower edges of which are chamfered off on one side oft-said bar, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination of a the grasp and vertical lifting-bar, the former being attached to 9. The method of removably hinging the seat by means of L-shaped slots in the side pieces of the chairframe, and lugs on the seat-frame, whereby the seat may be pulled forward before it is raised to accommodate the thickness of the upholstery, substantially as specified.

IVES W. MGGAFFEY Witnesses:

Enw. S. EVARTS, FoRDE B. SMITH- 

